The Rainbow Serpent is Back! - Edwina Reilly St. Laurence's Primary School, Forbes
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The Rainbow Serpent is Back!
Edwina Reilly
St. Laurence’s Primary School, Forbes
Enviro-Stories is an innovative literacy education program that inspires
learning about natural resource and catchment management issues.
Developed by PeeKdesigns, this program provides students with an
opportunity to publish their own stories that have been written for other
kids to support learning about their local area.
www.envirostories.com.au
In 2014, the “Tools, Totems & Tucker” Enviro-Stories program provided
local kids with the opportunity to write and illustrate stories about local
Aboriginal cultural - in particular Wiradjuri culture. This program was
sponsored by the Central West and Central Tablelands Local Land
Services.
Central Tablelands Local Land Services
The Central Tablelands Local Land Services region is located in central
New South Wales and covers an area of approximately 31,365 km2.
It includes the major towns of Bathurst, Blayney, Cowra, Lithgow,
Molong, Mudgee, Oberon and Orange. It falls predominantly within
Wiradjuri Aboriginal country and small parts of Dharug and Darkinjung
country.
www.lls.nsw.gov.au/centraltablelands
Central West Local Land Services
The Central West Local Land Services region is home to around
110,000 people and covers the central west slopes region around
Grenfell, Forbes and Wellington to the western plains of Nyngan and
Coonamble. The major Aboriginal nations that the central west region
overlies are the Wiradjuri, Wailwan, Wongaibon, Kawambarai and
Kamialroi. These nations also extend into other Local Land Services
regions.
www.lls.nsw.gov.au/centralwest
The Rainbow Serpent is Back!
Author: Edwina Reilly
Teacher: Leanne McRae
School: St. Laurence’s Primary School, Forbes
The “Tools, Totems and Tucker” Enviro-Stories Program has been proudly
supported by the Central West and Central Tablelands Local Land Services.
The “Tools, Totems & Tucker” collection consists of the following books:
Sponsored by Central Tablelands Sponsored by Central West Local
Local Land Services Land Services
• Aboriginal Totems • Burnum finds his way
• Our Living Land • How the Koala got his claws
• Aboriginal Animal Tracks • Storm Boy and Uncle Farren
• Aboriginal Life • The Peculiar Platypus
• The Dreamtime Trilogy • The Rainbow Serpent is back!
ISBN: 978 1 74256 706 8
The Enviro-Stories Education Program is a PeeKdesigns initiative.
Graphic design by PeeKdesigns, www.peekdesigns.com.au
Printed by Greenridge Press, www.greenridgepress.com.au
Copyright © 2014 Central West Local Land Services, www.lls.nsw.gov.au/centralwest
Citation: Reilly, E. 2014. The Rainbow Serpent is Back! Central West Local Land Services, NSW.
Hugh kicked over the muddy sign. “The
Wiradjuri people used this park as a popular
meeting place a long time ago,” the sign
read.
Hugh didn’t care about that. He didn’t think
it mattered whose land this was, or who
used to live here.
2
Suddenly, Hugh spotted a colourful tail
flickering. He looked closer. It was a
rainbow serpent!
It turned and looked him in the eye. The
snake’s tail flicked...
3
Then, the ground opened up and Hugh fell.
He hit soft grass and opened his eyes. It
was the park! But hundreds of years before.
Aboriginal people were busily walking
about, doing their various jobs.
4
Hugh got swept away by an elderly woman
heading towards the Lachlan River. He
noticed a wooden koala on a string hanging
from her neck.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“It is my totem,” said the Wiradjuri woman.
5
“Totems are passed down through the
families and cannot be harmed by those
whose totems they are. I need to protect
the woodlands to make sure the koala has
places to live and things to eat,” she told
him.
6
Next, he got swept away by a man holding
a spear. Hugh was afraid of the spear, but
the man said, “Do not worry. My spear is my
favourite tool, but I do not hurt people.”
7
“I use the spear to hunt animals for food.
There are many tools like spears, sticks,
dilly bags, boomerangs and fish traps.
Tools aren’t just used for hunting. They can
be for gathering, making huts and many
other things,” he told Hugh.
8After listening, Hugh thanked the man for
his knowledge and was swept off again by
a pair of young children. They played and
then sat down to eat beside the campfire.
9“What are you eating?” asked Hugh.
“Witchetty grubs and kangaroo,” said the
girl, Alkina.
“Eels with berries,” said the boy, Matari.
Hugh thought this was very interesting.
10Alkina told him that she had helped the
women cook and gather the berries and
witchetty grubs. Matari told him that he had
helped the men hunt the kangaroo and
catch the eels.
They both said it took a long time to
complete these chores, but catching and
preparing your own food made you respect
where it came from.
11After eating, they went to listen to one of
the elders tell a story. The younger children
loved listening to the stories the elder told.
They were called Dreamtime stories and
linked the people to each other, their
ancestors, their traditional lands and their
gods.
Hugh heard one called “The Rainbow
Serpent,” and smiled.
12Hugh listened to the stories of the sun and
the sky, the rain and the wind, the plants
and the animals, the rivers and the lands.
He learned more about the tools, totems
and tucker things he had been hearing
about all day.
13When everyone finished, Hugh was left
sitting there, thinking. He thought about the
symbolism of totems, the variety of tools and
the work put into making tucker. He thought
of all the people he had met...
14...all the things he had learned, like the
richness and wonder of Aboriginal culture.
He promised himself that, if he ever got
back home, he would keep learning and
discovering things about the Wiradjuri
people. Suddenly, he saw something.
15It was the rainbow serpent! It turned, looked
him in the eye and slithered away.
The ground, again, opened and Hugh fell
straight into his own park in his own time.
He was home again!
Hugh quickly repaired the sign he had
knocked over. He now had a great respect
for the Wiradjuri people, their lands and
their rich history and culture.
16Edwina Reilly St. Laurence’s Primary School, Year 6 2014
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